1.6 million hoping for tickets to Michael Jackson memorial service

The more than 1.6 million fans who registered for tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service will finally get word Sunday on whether they will be among the lucky few to get tickets for the ceremony.

Associated PressVanessa Villeda of Los Angeles signs a large poster at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday. The center will be the site for Michael Jackson's memorial service Tuesday.

Fans had to register for free at the Staples Center Web site between 10 a.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday for the random drawing of only 8,750 names.

Each person selected will receive two tickets and will be notified by e-mail after 11 a.m. PDT Sunday, according to a Staples Center news release.

The tickets will admit 11,000 people to the Staples Center plus 6,500 in the Nokia Theater overflow section next door.

Before the drawing, officials of AEG, the owner and operator of the Staples Center, will "scrub" the entries to eliminate duplicates and any suspected of being made by automated systems or "go-bots," Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine said in a statement.

Winners will receive a unique code and instructions on how to pick up their tickets Monday at an off-site distribution center. When they pick up their tickets, a wristband will be placed on their wrists.

Fans must have both the ticket and the wristband to enter Staples Center on Tuesday. Wristbands that have been ripped, taped or tampered with will be voided.

Sunshine said those steps are being taken to prevent ticket-scalping.

City officials are preparing for huge crowds. Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger says as many as 700,000 people may try to reach the arena, even though a wide area around Staples Center will be sealed off to people without tickets.

City Councilwoman Jan Perry strongly urged people to stay home and watch the memorial on television. The ceremony will not be shown on Staples' giant outdoor TV screen and there will be no funeral procession through the city.

No details were given about the actual memorial events, which come as the nation's second-largest city struggles with a $530 million budget deficit. Perry said the cost of police protection for "extraordinary" events like the memorial is built into the Police Department's budget, but she still solicited help for "incremental costs."

Last month, donations covered about $850,000 of the city's $1 million cost for the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA championship parade. Critics had blasted the idea of using city money when it is considering layoffs to close its budget gap.

NBC executives changed their minds Sunday and decided to join other networks that will televise service live.

NBC had initially planned only a one-hour prime-time special on Tuesday night, but said Sunday it would also cover the event live. It was not immediately clear who would anchor.

Charles Gibson will anchor coverage for ABC, which is setting aside its typical daytime programming.

CBS anchor Katie Couric will be at the Staples Center, although the network had not yet said whether it was offering live coverage of the memorial.

CNN has seen its ratings soar with the Jackson story, and it will show the memorial on the main network and HLN (formerly Headline News). CNN International will air the ceremony to the rest of the world. Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Don Lemon are the anchors for CNN coverage. Robin Meade, A.J. Hammer and Jane Velez-Mitchell will anchor at HLN. CNN en Espanol also will cover it.

Chris Jansing will anchor live coverage of the memorial on MSNBC. Shepard Smith will anchor live coverage of the ceremony on Fox News, with Megyn Kelly anchoring coverage of the event on the Fox network.

E! Entertainment and TV Guide will cover the ceremony on their television networks and Web sites.